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Thursday, October 31, 2013

Can I just admit something to you? I'm truly a kid at heart...well, that's not entirely true. I'm a princess at heart. Specifically, I'm Cinderella at heart. I might wear rags for clothes and it seems like all I do is clean up after others and serve meals. But with a Bibbidy, Bobbity, Boo, I'd be all over the ball in my gown and glass slippers in my white carriage. I have my own prince that I married, but I could wisk him off his feet again. So when I realized Disney Live! was coming to town, my first thought was that I could go see the princesses. Then I remembered I have a 7 year old daughter. She's good foil at these things. We can BOTH go see the princesses. And so we will be headed there soon.

Good news for you--use the discount code below and you can join me with $5 off of your tickets, too.

Show Summary: Join Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy as they take audiences on a captivating journey and magically bring to life three timeless fairy tale adventures. Discover Snow White as she searches for her one true love; Cinderella getting ready for her magical night at the ball; and Belle, from Beauty and the Beast, as she finds happiness in the most unusual place. Anchored amidst a transforming set, captivating choreography, innovative lighting and breathtaking costumes, this authentically-woven tale of “happily-ever-after” is a heart-warming Disney experience for the entire family.

Disney Live! presents Three Classic Fairy Tales is coming to Omaha on November 23rd at the Omaha Civic Auditorium. My Readers can Save $5 off per ticket. Use offer code: MOMS Get Your tickets Today!

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

She wouldn't dig in so a friend stuck
her hand into it...she was not pleased.

Baby's first birthday is one of the most exciting milestones in a parent's life. It's an amazing day recalling the circumstances of birth or of adoption. First birthdays celebrate the joy that your child brings to your family. When my kiddos turned 1, smash cakes were just starting to take a toe-hold. We got our three kids their own kids cake (smash cake) and let them go at it. Our oldest ended up painting the highchair in frosting. The middle one wasn't sure about any of it and only 'sort of' enjoyed it. Our youngest was a girly-girl from birth and kept picking at the frosting, but wouldn't dive in. A friend stuck her hand in and she bawled--she wasn't into the mess...at first. But by the end, cake was in her hair, on the floor, in her diaper, everywhere! But, she did continue to pick at it in a very dainty manner. No grab and squish for that girl.

Betty Crocker, America’s baking expert, surveyed moms and found that the most memorable part of a first birthday party is the birthday cake itself. To help make the moment extra special with a homemade touch, Betty Crocker has created a line-up of easy-to-make birthday smash cake recipes that babies can’t wait to get their hands on.

The finished mess--in hair, in diaper...

If I had to do it over, I'd make one of these darling cakes instead of spending money to purchase one. In fact, the cutout #1 is what I would have chosen for my oldest, the sprinkles cake (done in green) would have been for my middle, and the watercolor cake (done in pink and purple) would have been for my daughter.

Here is a photo infographic with step by step instructions on making a smash cake. Click on the photo to open it in a larger size or check it out on my Pinterest boards. To see all the cakes and their recipes, check out the Betty Crocker website.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Rebekah and I had the privilege of getting to read and review Audrey Bunny. This precious story is currently the #1 Children's Christian Book on Amazon.com.

Audrey Bunny is in a bin and has an imperfection. She's not a perfect stuffed animal and she knows it. And after she's passed up several times, she gives up all hope. So when Audrey Bunny is chosen, she works hard to hide her imperfection so her new owner will continue to love her. What will happen when the girl finds her flaw?

As a parent, I found this to be a timeless message that we all have flaws. Some visible, some not visible. But no matter what, we were fearfully and wonderfully made and we are loved--with our imperfections. The parent guide in the back helped me ask age appropriate questions of my daughter and she loved the message.

From the publisher: About Audrey Bunny From best-selling women’s author Angie Smith (I Will Carry You, Mended) comes this sweet children’s book about a stuffed animal named Audrey Bunny who fears her imperfections make her unworthy of a little girl’s love. She'll learn the truth soon enough, and young readers will learn that everyone is special and wonderfully made by God.

Angie Smith is the wife of Todd Smith (lead singer of Dove Award winning group Selah), best-selling author of Mended, I Will Carry You, and What Women Fear, and one of the most popular speakers and blog writers in the country. She holds a Master’s degree in Developmental Psychology from Vanderbilt University and lives with her husband and daughters in Nashville, TN.

Here's your chance to receive a free copy of Audrey Bunny for your family to enjoy.

Entry-FormDisclaimer: I was given a copy of Audrey Bunny in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Monday, October 28, 2013

I was very excited to get a package in the mail. It contains my completed Make A Plates. I was given the opportunity to create three plates and show you how our process went from beginning to end. I had each of the three kids create a design on a template (provided by the company). Those templates go into a large envelope and get mailed to the Make A Plate Company. They say it takes up to 6 weeks, but in TWO weeks, I had my plates back and now my little ones are much more likely to help with dishes to make sure their plate is clean for the next meal.

Nathan intently dividing the pattern

Taking shape...

Rebekah knew right away what she planned to create.

Beautiful artwork!

Andrew wouldn't allow photos...but did make one.

Those were our originals on the paper. Now for the finished products...

Andrew: Without Music, Life Would Bb (Be Flat--it's a musical thing)

Nathan made a 2013 happy face plate.

Photo cropped to trim personal information.

Rebekah made "I Love Butterflies"

(with a girl and an umbrella on the side)

Each plate came with instructions:

Wash before use

Do not use scouring pad

Dishwasher safe

Do not microwave

We washed ours in the dishwasher and they came out beautifully. Nathan & Rebekah eat off of their plates as often as possible. Andrew sees it as a gift to me...and as they get older, I do plan to display all three plates. So his is a spare plate for now. But the experience was fast easy and fun--and make a wonderful keepsake. I think this would be a great gift to give to grandparents, aunts and uncles, etc.

Friday, October 25, 2013

I want to share about a new friend I met through a friend's baby photos. Her name is Kitty Vogt of Kitty Vogt Photography. Kitty is a blogger, photographer, lawyer, and native Omaha-ian recently moved
back to her home city to start her legal career. (She told me she loves doing photography because it balances out the lawyer-aspect of her life...I loved that comment.) One of her passions is
photography, and she started Kitty Vogt Photography in law school to help share her love of
photography with others.

I've been looking through her photos and love her style. She creates natural shots with creativity...not a cookie cutter set of poses. I will be doing a family photo session with Kitty soon. We're working on a date when my family is available...not easy with three active and involved kids. But, we'll get it done and I'll be back to show you my results.

From Kitty:What I take photos
of: Just about everything! I’ve been hired for weddings, engagements,
maternity, newborn, senior photos, pet photos, families, birthday parties,
corporate headshots, just to name a few. My little niche is making photography
affordable, so that every occasion or no occasion at all can be reason to hire
a photographer!I love what I do, I love people, and I love sharing my work
with others.My packages: My
sessions are simple! No matter the occasion or subject, I charge $55 for a 1
hour session. That includes about 15 edits from that session, which I provide
to you by high quality digital download for you to share, print, and use
however you would like. If you want extra edits, more photos, more time, I can
add that on as well! I travel, but anything outside of the city of Omaha is an
extra travel fee.What I have to offer:
First, let me say I want to offer every
reader $10 off a photo session with me. In order to claim your $10 off, go
to www.facebook.com/kittyvogtphotography
and like my page. Then send me a quick facebook message saying where you read
about this offer (Coolestmommy's blog) and we can talk about booking a session! The
$10 off is valid through the end of the year, so hop to it!

Here is the best part for all of my readers!!!

Kitty is offering one of Coolestmommy's reader a free photo session with Kitty Vogt Photography!

The session
will be a mini-session That is a 40 minute session, with 10 photo edits! The
session offer is good til the end of the year, and can be valid for any style
of session you’d like.

Enter below and remember, if you click on options in the top right corner, you can have all the entry windows open at once to make entering faster than ever. Good luck!

I don't know about you, but I used to look forward to fall and the cool cereals I'd see on the shelves. Cont Chocula and Franken Berry. I thought they were the coolest things ever. And I'm so excited to see the Monster Cereals (including ones I had forgotten) are being sold in their retro packages at Target. And check out the great deal during the month of October. And be sure to enter the giveaway below. Remember, with Giveaway Tools, if you click Options (top right) and select open all windows, it will save your preference and make entering giveaways on my blog and others fast and easy.

We hope you will share information about the Monster Cereals in retro packaging exclusively at Target and the Monster Bash magazine (which includes Recipes, Tips and Tricks for planning the creepiest, scariest, spookiest, most fun Halloween ever!) that is FREE when you purchase three boxes of Monster cereal in a single shopping trip between 10/1/13 and 10/31/13.

The prize pack will include Big G Monster Cereals in retro packaging(3 boxes) and a $25 Target Gift Card.

This Giveaway will be live from 10/22 and end 10/29, starting and ending at 7 p.m. est.

Winner will be chosen at random via random.org

Winner will have 48 hours to respond or another will be chosen.

Winner must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

This Giveaway is open to residents of the US only. No P.O Boxes. All entries will be verified.

Winner will be notified by email. Please see Giveaway Tools widget for full disclosure. Enter below using the easy Giveaway Tools widget below.

Monday, October 21, 2013

I'm so excited that I will be getting a copy of The Mommy MD Guide to Losing Weight and Feeling Great. I have not gone after weight loss after any of my pregancies. I haven't been able to put myself into a positive weight loss attitude. I'm looking forward to reading this book and seeing what they have to say. I'm hopeful to find ways to feel better through different eating choices. I'll be back with a review to let you know what I learn, but be sure to take advantage of the discount offer below.

From the publisher:

The Mommy MD Guide to Losing Weight and Feeling Great is the fourth book in the successful Mommy MD Guides book series. Our new book features more than 700 tips that 50 doctors who are also mothers use to slim down, shape up, fight fatigue, boost mood, look great, and live better!Our books and website feature tips that doctors who are also mothers use for their own families. They're experts--squared! Our mission is to help moms raise healthier, happier families.

Friday, October 18, 2013

It's turned crisp (and even a little cold) here in the midwest. Fall has definitely arrived and I feel the nip of winter on its heels. What does fall mean to you? One thing that I associate with fall is homemade pots of soup. And when Nona Lim Foods offered me the opportunity to sample their soups, I was in.

When I went to investigate their website, I discovered some facts that I was unaware of, but were impressive. Their entire kitchen is Gluten Free and Dairy Free. Many of you might not be impressed by that, but having a child with autism and looking into a GF diet, I can assure you that this is huge. Many of their products are also vegetarian plus they use organic ingredients.

Everything is responsibly sourced to eliminate Gluten and Diary and is cooked fresh. They use a cooling system and ship in containers with ice-packs to keep the soups cold. When mine arrived, they were still cool to the touch and the packing material is recyclable (or reusable). The soups come in BPA free plastic so you don't have to dirty a pot if you don't want to. You can cut the top off, microwave and serve. I did two in the microwave and one on the stove. I found I prefer using the microwave method and I liked knowing it was safe to eat from the package without dirtying a dish. Here's what their site said about the packing process:

Nona Lim

Nona
Lim uses a blast-freeze process to preserve crispness and flavor. While frozen,
Nona Lim soups are good for many months. Soups are delivered to grocery stores
around the country and sold in the refrigerated section. Nona Lim also sells
its soups online to consumers, where they are packed in cooler boxes with gel
ice packs and shipped via UPS. While it may seem like a lot of effort to
deliver soups cold, it allows the company to forgo preservatives that would
introduce an off taste requiring additional salt and sugar to cover up. By
ensuring cold delivery, Nona Lim is revolutionizing ready-to-heat soups with
superior health and taste.

I tried the Tomato Soup, French Onion Soup and the All-Bean Chili. The first one we opened and ate was the Tomato Soup. It was very yummy and delicious. Both my husband and I thought it was a little 'spicy' at first. Then we started to realize it wasn't spice, it was flavor. You know--that thing missing from commercial processed soups. Nona Lin had flavor going on. It was delicious and you could taste the freshness. Next we tried out the French Onion Soup. Again--such a flavor explosion in your mouth. There was a party going on in the taste buds. I haven't had that good of French Onion Soup in ages. Finally, we tried the All Bean Chili. Or rather--I tried the all bean Chili. Sean isn't a fan of beans and a Chili made out of a vast array of beans was not for him. I tried it as is and it was very good, but I prefer meat in my chili so I will be adding some cooked ground beef the next time I purchase and make this soup. It was still excellent and once again, flavor and freshness were the words I use to describe the chili.

I giggled when I received this message from Nona Lim Soups. I had already written about the soups and how I think of soups in the fall. Here's what they sent to me:

Here are 5 reasons Nona Lim soups make the fall season better.

Less Salt: Making soup without preservatives allows Nona Lim to make great tasting soup with less recommended sodium intake per cup than many leading competitors.

Home delivery: It’s never been easier to conveniently eat right when the best soups show up at your door or office in temperature controlled boxes. https://nonalim.com/products/

No gluten, dairy or worries: Nona Lim has eliminated all common inflammatory ingredients making eating right easy to do - no matter your food sensitivities.

Stocks made from scratch: Seriously, Nona Lim boils down vegetables for 3-4 hours so you can taste the difference.

Veggies to the Max: One to two pounds of fresh local California veggies are cooked down into every 12 ounce pouch. It's a delicious way to make sure you are getting enough veggies.

Make sure you check out the Store Locator to find a location near you where you can purchase Nona Lim soups. It looks like all the Whole Foods locations (including mine) carry her soup. Or you can order online and have it delivered straight to your door.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

I have slowly but surely learned about other bloggers in Omaha and have had the chance to meet several of them. We've started an official 'group' and get together monthly to share. We all come from such a large variety of backgrounds and everyone has a unique blog.

The consensus is that nobody realizes how many Nebraska bloggers are out there and we're excited to share our small corner of the world with you. As one blogger put it, "We're not above giving you incentive to like us." That cracked me up, but sums up our idea. There are 11 of us this round with more coming in the future. We've put together three awesome prize packs. Use the PunchTab below to enter for your chance to win one of the three prize packages.

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Please help me help my son! He and two friends at school created an amazing video about recycling. If they get the "People's Choice" award, they get a cash award. To reward your help, I'm sponsoring a giveaway where one winner will get a $10 gift card to HSN (Home Shopping Network). Vote for Andrew's video and maybe win a little gift for yourself. Good luck!

Our family had the extreme pleasure of visiting Camp Fontanelle this weekend. It's a Pumpkin Patch, it's a Corn Maze, there is a Jumping Pillow. You can also do Laser Tag in the corn maze, you can ride a zip line or take pony rides (those three things are the only additional charges to your ticket). You can sit around a campfire and make smores. You can play what my kids called Tic-Tac-Toilet outside of the petting zoo. There was a bounce house and a sand area for the kids and a lot of good, family fun. For those of you in Nebraska, Camp Fontanelle is about 40 minutes north of Omaha--just past Fremont and Nickerson. Most people say it's in Nickerson, but it's really just beyond Nickerson in Fontanelle, NE. It was a beautiful drive down the highway with almost no traffic. I realize there are two very popular pumpkin patches south of Omaha, but having been to both, I will never return. I will drive a little farther to Camp Fontanelle where the costs are AFFORDABLE, the fun is identical, the corn maze is incredible and the crowds are manageable. Make sure you grab this coupon good for $1 off per person!Let me tell you a bit about our trip. Rebekah had a birthday party (where she had to dress like a rock star--so we have wild rock star hair). We got to Camp Fontanelle with about 2.5 hours left in the day. We started with the attraction I have waited for YEARS to do--the Corn Maze. I've never been in one...in fact, I've never really been 'in' a corn field. Before you out-of-staters start asking, it's not what you think. When you were taught history in school, it was already history--in the past. I live in a large metropolitan area with houses, lights, running water and indoor plumbing. Yes--believe it or not--we in the Cornhusker State do not ALL live on farms, in the wilderness and the Pony Express stopped running with the government shutdown--I just get it USPS now. (Sorry-couldn't resist answering one of the top questions asked of me from those out of state.)

Back to the corn maze. We headed into it feeling confidant. I figure I'm above average in map reading skills and I'm with a husband and two sons who are crackerjack map readers. We'll kick this maze's butt in no time flat. HA! We did conquer the maze. We were able to figure out where we were, but if you've never been in one, there's no shortcuts. You have to follow the winding paths that seem to lead nowhere to find your way around. We did the 'short maze' in about a half hour. We could have done it faster, but the kids loved running in circles on the meandering paths to nowhere. They were looking for the hole punching posts hidden in the maze. If you find all 7 of them, you get a free item at the concession stand. When we got to the end of the short maze, you can continue on for an estimated 30-45 minutes. We know we meander so we figured it would be at least an hour. And with daylight burning, we had too many other things to do to keep going. We decided if time allowed, we'd come back at the end of the day. We were waiting for the hay rack ride so we decided to do the jumping pillow while we waited. I found a chair that makes you feel like a little kid again. We discovered that they break the kids down by age so little ones don't get trampled by big ones. Nice system. We arrived for the last 10 minutes of the teen/adult jump so Andrew went in. Then I went in--somehow, there are no photos of me jumping... If you've never gotten to do one of these, it's just awesome. It's a huge pillow of air and you bounce on it like a cross between a trampoline and a bounce house without sides. But since there are no baffles (like a bounce house), you don't get thrown off of it.

Andrew on the jumping pillow.

When it was time for Nathan & Rebekah's age bracket to jump, Rebekah was the first one out the gate. Nathan wasn't sure he wanted to try it out. We sort of forced him to give it a try. Once he told the kid pushing others to knock it off (great job on the interpersonal communication for the boy with autism), he started to have fun. Bouncing is his thing. He's loved it his whole life. The therapy term is proprioceptive input. And the kid has energy like you can't believe. Even Rebekah slowed down and pooped out...not Nathan. The energizer bunny kept on hopping.

Energizer Nathan

Rebekah's in black with ponytail flying.

While all the jumping was going on, we missed the next hayrack ride. While we waited, we checked out the snack bar as it was now dinner time. Almost everything in the snack bar is $1. So for only $3 you can get a hot dog, chips and a pop or bottled water. Other $1 items include candy, nachos, popcorn, hot dogs, soft pretzel, drinks, chips. The only items that cost a bit more were Caramel Apples for $2 and a S'mores Kit for $4. We didn't know there were some campfires for everyone (not rented out like the others) or we would have bought and made s'mores. After our snack, we went on the last hayrack ride of the day. We debated skipping the petting zoo area, but we're glad we didn't.

We got in the barn and you can feed the alpacas, donkey (miniature), rabbits, goats, etc. You get a cup of feed for only $0.50. Rebekah was all in, but Nathan was a little uncertain at first. We decided (Nathan & I) that we don't like feeding goats. They slobber--ick! We loved feeding the Alpacas and little Donkey. They eat more with their lips so you can feel their hair and it's soft and almost tickles.

Andrew found some outdoor activities to try. There's a washer on fishing line you try to get hooked. There is a hook in the post and you have to swing the washer just right to hook it. Crazy patience required! Then he found the magnetic board with funnels and tubes and marbles and made mazes for the little ones to try.

Finally, we sat around the campfires for a few minutes while the little ones bounced in the bounce castle. Then as we were leaving, we discovered the game Tic Tac Toe. Done with toilet seats next to the portapotties. We renamed it Tic Tac Toilet. The kids played while Sean went and got the car...after all, they were now officially closed, except they couldn't get the crazies like us to leave. (They weren't complaining, they were just shutting down and told us to enjoy ourselves.) We left and realized we ran out of time to do the laser tag and we had talked about trying the zipline. The concensus was our family hasn't had that much fun in a long time. It was just relaxing and something we really needed. It was so inexpensive with $1 concessions and admission being $6 adults and $4 kids. We made up our minds to go back--earlier in the day-- and do the long maze and the laser tag. I'm eyeballing next weekend as a possibility.

If you're looking for family fun in a totally friendly environment that is affordable, head over to Camp Fontanelle. This is their fundraiser to help offset summer camp. They keep it reasonable so you can afford to go. The pumpkins in the pumpkin patch are available for a freewill donation. There are suggested prices and small pumpkins are suggested $2. I encourage everyone to go and tell them Coolestmommy sent you!